Sparkle is not at its heart a gay film, but if you
know the work of Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger
(Lawless Heart, Boyfriends), or if you like watching a
good film with a queer sensibility, then you'll love
it. 22-year-old Liverpudlian Sam (Shaun Evans, who
played a gay character in Teachers) comes down to
London with his cabaret-singing dotty mother to change
his life for the better. Serving drinks at a party, he
hooks up with Sheila, a powerful PR boss in a pair of
high-heeled boots (played by the fabulous Stockard
Channing, need we say more). But when he also begins
an affair with a younger woman, life begins to get
just a little complicated. Sparkle is a warm, funny
film with great performances throughout (look out for
Antony Head as a sardonic stately British homo and Bob
Hoskins as a lovable loner). Bring your hanky...
A Vertigo Films release of an Isle of Man Film, Baker
Street, U.K. Film Council presentation, in association
with North West Vision and BBC Films, of a Magic Light
Pictures production. (International sales: Beyond
Films, Sydney.) Produced by Martin Pope, Michael Rose.
Executive producers, Steve Christian, Keith Evans,
Steve Jenkins, Christopher Moll, Paul Trijbits.
Directed, written by Neil Hunter, Tom Hunsinger.